Red Wings players cherish interactions with Gordie Howe

WASHINGTON - Johan Franzen was lamenting a knee injury when someone in the locker room told him, come and feel my knees.

That was Franzen's 'wow' moment with Gordie Howe. Howe, 86, suffered a serious stroke Sunday, prompting all of his children to come to his bedside in Lubbock, Texas. Howe's wife of 55 years, Colleen, passed away five years ago from dementia.

Wednesday afternoon, son Mark Howe told the Detroit Free Press that, "things are about the same but a couple of positives again. Small they may be, but enormous at this stage. He had a tough night but today is a bit better. He's resting for the most part.

"We're trying to stay positive for him and keep his spirits up. It will be a long haul at the least."

Gordie Howe was a steady visitor in the Detroit Red Wings locker room up until the last few years, when his health started to fail because of dementia. What today's Wings remember is how Howe always was so approachable.

"It was always a 'wow' moment when he came down," Franzen said Wednesday. "My first or second year, I remember he came in and I had a knee injury or something. He told me, come over here and feel my knees. And there was like nothing left in those. I was like, 'I'm touching Gordie Howe's knees right now. It was a little surreal."

Coach Mike Babcock, who played with Howe's nephew, Bruce Clark, growing up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, said having Howe coming into the coach's office at the Joe on a regular basis, "was special, to say the least. He'd let you know if he didn't like the way the team played. Real good man, real fun to be around. Loved hockey. He's called 'Mr. Hockey' for a reason.

"He's part of the Red Wing family. He's a special, special man."

Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk arrived from Russia in 2001 not knowing who Howe was. He learned quickly. Datsyuk said after talking to Howe a few times, "you know who is this. Unbelievable feeling."

For Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg, what stood out about Howe was "how close he always was to a joke. He'd come in and joke around with the guys. Kept it simple and easy for us. I was really young when I met him for the first time, a little nervous, but he made it a lot easier than I thought it it would be.

"He's just done so much for hockey and our club, so it's sad to see the news that came out. Our prayers and thoughts go to him and his family."

Howe and fellow Production Line member Ted Lindsay were ubiquitous figures in the Red Wings' dressing room for years. For a young Niklas Kronwall, their presences dazzled. "You can't say enough good things about them," the Red Wings defenseman said.

Kronwall called Howe "an amazing person. The way he handles himself, carries himself, that's something that trickles down for us younger guys; that's something we look up to. We want to be like that as well. Definitely a role model for many, many people."

For all of Howe's on-ice accomplishments -- six Art Ross and six Hart trophies, four Stanley Cups, 20 consecutive years as a top-five scorer in the NHL -- his lasting impression is that of a sweet, gentle, friendly man.

"That's what impressed me the most," Franzen said. "He'd just come down and talk to you like anyone."

Helene St. James writes for the Detroit Free Press